Bret Taylor: preference

Transcript context

…ports to, I don't know, over 1,000 or something. It was a big group. And it was the largest management job. I had become a manager at Google, but a modest team. And so, I was doing okay but not great. And I had this moment where Sheryl saw me, I think I was editing a presentation for a partner just because the presentation I got didn't meet my quality bar and I was editing it and griping about it. She pulled me into a room and gave me talking to a little bit about holding my team to as high of a standard as I have. If someone wasn't meeting my expectations, what was my plan to manage them out of the company or... Just giving me management one-on-one. And she's a remarkable mentor in the sense she can give you feedback that's very direct and often, a bit uncomfortable, but you know she cares about you. And so it was the type of feedback you listen to. I went home that night and I was stewing on it and not very happy. I was like, you get naturally a little defensive in those moments. Is that really true? Am I really fucking it up or is she overreacting? And then I woke up the next day, I was like, "No, she's right." And I had realized this subconscious limiter that was limiting my success in the job, which is, I was trying to conform the job to the things I thought I liked to do. So, I was spending a lot of my time on some product and technology things that I was passionate about, thinking I'm the boss. I should focus on what I want to focus on instead of thinking about, okay, I'm running the mobile and platform teams at Facebook. What's the most important thing to do today to make our mobile and developer platform successful? And when I reframed the job that way, I did different things. And the thing that was the biggest pleasant surprise to me was I liked it. I thought I liked engineering and product, but in fact, when I changed an organization and it turned out to be more successful, I derived a great deal of joy from seeing that success. Our developer platform had a lot of partners and when there was an issue there and I'd spend time on partnerships and it worked and our platform became healthier, the partner became more successful. I took pride in that success and then I just started being better at my job and I realized that the actual act of engineering or product design or all the things I thought I liked, what I really liked is impact. And so, that conversation led to my waking up every morning, sometimes literally, but certainly, in the broadest sets of the words saying, "What is the most impactful thing I can do today?" And really thinking almost like, if you had an external board of advisors telling you what are the things where if you focus on them, you can maximize the likelihood that what you're trying to achieve will happen? Sometimes, it's recruiting, sometimes, it's product, sometimes, it's engineering, sometimes, it's sales. And I've become much more self-reflective just about what is important to work on. And I have become much more receptive to doing things that I previously would've said aren't my favorite things to do because I derive so much joy from having an impact that I enjoy a lot more things now. I have become much more receptive to doing things that I previously would've said aren't my favorite things to do because I derive so much joy from having an impact that I enjoy a lot more things now. And so, I really credit Sheryl, I'm so grateful. And actually, it's interesting, I think a lot about this when I give feedback to people now, just those moments that can change the trajectory of your career. I give her all the credit for it. There's so many people that share stories of Sheryl Sandberg giving them advice and that changing their life. What a mensch.…

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